Live queries (not to be confused with the jQuery plugin) can be a useful tool for companies when used and managed in the right way. People who use live query tools are looking for instant answers.
Aardvark and ChaCha are two very different tools for asking questions. We’ll take a look at both tools and how they can help your marketing and public relations efforts.
I was invited to San Francisco this past week to give a talk to a public relations team and their COO. We had a great conversation about the potential of Social Media, and how it could help both their PR and marketing strategies.
They asked a really important question about who the users are of the various social networks. I gave a brief demographic overview in an earlier post here, but we’ll drill down further at Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Ning:
Monthly hits on the social networking sites average:
Twitter’s @Biz announced that it’s Replies button also allows for searches that do include @username anywhere in the tweet — not just in the beginning as it has been to date.
The old business adage holds true on the Web: It’s not what you know. It’s who you know.
Social networks for centuries have helped build communities and connections in order to advance both personal causes and businesses. Today, online social networks provide the same results, but in more targeted and efficient ways.
Whether it’s a personal or corporate brand, the power to build your identity lies in social networks. The purpose of social networks is to bring people to your home base, your Web site.
Social Media. Social Media Marketing. New Media. Emerging Media
All of these terms are used interchangeably, but not necessarily defined or understood clearly. Much of the confusion arises from the different function of what has come to be know as social mediums.
Starting out, let’s define the social media categories that exist today:
If you’re a small start-up, then the entire company or partnership has to own any social media marketing efforts. In order to get a critical following, you have to be all hands on deck.
But what if you’re a large, established organization? New and emerging media cross many different areas from IT to Marketing, and Human Resources to Customer Relations. Depending on company culture, everyone may want a piece in social media, or no one will want a hand in it. This is where communications and new media strategy become important.
Rule #1: Give credit via Twitter name. Examples: @SherryMain or @inculink.
Rule #2: Give credit via Twitter name. Examples: @rww or @AdamAinbinder.
When I read an article or blog post online, I like to see Twitter links to the people who are being mentioned. Why? Because if I’m interested in something they’ve said once, I want to know quickly if there’s more to them.
A Twitter profile is a great way of getting a quick snapshot of someone. In this day-in-age of information overflow, I can’t help judge a book by it’s cover. I have 10-seconds to find out whether someone is interesting or not. I can decide later if in fact that judgment was correct, as I get to know them via tweets. But if you lost me in those first 10 seconds, then you’ve lost me forever.
We’re starting a podcasting series on social media. We’re focusing on what it is and how small businesses and non profits should use it. You’ll be able to find it at INCULINK once we get it launched.
So I sat down with my friend Sherry to brainstorm what social media is. I thought it would be easy given how often the name is thrown around, but to my surprise, it wasn’t straightforward. Here’s what we came up with.
I just read this fun op-ed from the Washington Post by Jeanne McManus.
It comedically devalues life in a Twitter world:
Which comes first? The Twitter or life itself? Are we writing about what we’re doing or are we writing about what we’re going to do or are we doing it because we need something to write about?
I enjoyed her short musing. But now, I can’t find a link to follow her tweets anywhere on the entire op-ed page! Nor have i been able to locate her through Twitter’s “Find People” tool. I’m bummed, as she sounds really interesting, whether these are her real tweets or not:
Jeanne has measured out her life with coffee spoons. Huh?
So I write my own public request to Ms. McManus… and to any other editor, writer, reporter who covers new and social media seriously or comically – on TV, in print or online: please share how we can follow you or become a fan on these new tools which you write about.
NPR’s Science Friday does a great job of this. While driving from Annapolis to D.C. several weeks ago, @Padrepablo and I listened to Ira Flatow (@scifri) interviewing Tim O’Reilly (@timoreilly). Ira repeatedly mentioned how we could follow them. And caller Jeff Levy (@levyj413) – the EPA’s web manager – who talked about government and social media also shared how listeners could follow him. I’ve since learned a lot from following Mr. Levy. I’d like to easily do the same from others.
Of course, privacy is a concern, so I understand if you don’t easily share your Twitter name with your article… but then could you consider separate public and private personas? When used correctly, I can only see sharing Twitter accounts as a great learning and conversation tool.
Taking my own advice, you can follow me @sherrymain.
Twitter integrates really well with Facebook. Let your Facebook friends know what you’re up to or what you find interesting by updating your Tweets (hopefully through a third-party Twitter app). If you’re not already integrating the two, here’s a simple look at how.